President's Invitation

Peter C. Agre, M.D.

Dear Colleagues,

The Annual Meeting is globally one of the most widely recognized interdisciplinary scientific events, with hundreds of networking opportunities and broad national and international media coverage. An exceptional array of speakers will gather at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting from 18-22 February in San Diego to present the latest thinking and developments in the areas of science, technology, engineering, education, and policy-making.

The relevance of science, technology, and engineering as well as scientific literacy to the well-being of society is more profound than ever. The theme of the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting—Bridging Science and Society—calls on every scientist and engineer to make their work both beneficial and understandable, and on society to discover again the excitement and hope that research and its findings offer. It is a call to action that resonates around the world.

U.S. President Barack Obama articulated the importance of a global vision in his first major address to scientists. "Science, technology, and innovation proceed more rapidly and more cost-effectively when insights, costs, and risks are shared; and so many of the challenges that science and technology will help us meet are global in character. This is true of our dependence on oil, the consequences of climate change, the threat of epidemic disease, and the spread of nuclear weapons."

Everyone is welcome at the AAAS Annual Meeting. Those who join us will have the opportunity to choose among a broad range of activities, including plenary and topical lectures by some of the world's leading scientists and engineers, multidisciplinary symposia, cutting-edge seminars, career development workshops, and an international exhibition.

The Annual Meeting reflects tremendous efforts from the AAAS sections, divisions, and committees, which I gratefully acknowledge. I also extend a personal thanks to the members of the Scientific Program Committee who reviewed and assembled the many excellent ideas and proposals into this outstanding meeting.

I urge you to join us in San Diego,

Dr. Peter Agre, AAAS President and
Director, Malaria Research Institute,
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health